LONDON — Global printer technology firm Epson has appointed The Academy to raise awareness of its EcoTank printers and ReadyPrint ink subscription services after a competitive pitch. The Academy’s first campaign for Epson will involve European ambassador Usain Bolt. The account will be led by associate director Nabil Hanafi, who recently joined the agency from Brands2Life.

LONDON — UK digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation has appointed global technology specialist Hotwire as its consumer PR agency. Hotwire will be working with the charity to deliver an eight-month media relations and content campaign, including promoting ‘Learn My Way’, a free learning platform for basic digital skills, as well as adding new community hubs to the National Digital Inclusion Network to get people online. Good Things Foundation worked with Virgin Media O2 to develop the National Databank, supported by Vodafone and Three, which is active in 1,000 locations across the UK. The initiative is like a food bank, but provides free mobile data, texts and calls to help people stay digitally included.

LONDON — Broadcast agencies BF Media and Be Broadcast have won the National Lottery Awards account in a joint bid, following a competitive tender process. The three-year contract aims to celebrate the people and projects who do great things in their community with the help of National Lottery funding. Be Broadcast founder Josh Wheeler and BF Media founder Safi Zisman have worked together on various projects since 2001; both started their own agencies within the past two years. Be Broadcast's clients include the Co-op, AXA Insurance & JustGiving, while BF Media's clients include The British Board of Film Classification, Sara Miller London, and Bowel Cancer UK.

LONDON — Circular clothing brand Lucy & Yak (pictured) has hired consumer PR, content and social agency Fanclub PR to handle its press office, as well as influencer engagement, product launches, store openings and thought leadership. Lucy & Yak, known for brightly-coloured dungarees and boiler suits which featured on hit TV show Sex Education, has appointed the agency to provide press office support including influencer engagement, product launches, new store openings and thought leadership. The appointment by Lucy & Yak builds on Fanclub’s growing purpose-driven client base following a B Corp accreditation, which includes eco-effective brand, smol, Emma Sleep and MusicMagpie. 

LONDON — Innesco, a UK & EMEA marketing and communications firm focused on commercial real estate and the built environment, has acquired corporate and B2B PR consultancy Grenadier Communications, which specialises in commercial and residential real estate and was founded by Simon Stretch in 2013, with offices in London and Cardiff. Innesco, founded by Dan Innes in 2009, operates in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and beyond, with clients including Eurofund Group, Benoy Architects, Saudi giga-project Diriyah, World Retail Congress and World of Football. Grenadier’s clients include financial institutions, developers, investors, private clients, asset managers, agents and advisors. Stretch becomes a director at Innesco, leading on corporate and financial business.

LONDON — Aduro Communications is expanding its works for Concha Y Toro, the largest producer and exporter of wines from Latin America and one of the top 10 largest wine producers in the world. The agency is now working on the Casillero del Diablo and Cono Sur brands as well as continuing its work with the launch of the Diablo brand. The brief from Casillero del Diablo – covering influencer campaign, wine press, broadcast press and social media – was to support sponsorship of hit TV show The Last Of Us, with star Pedro Pascal playing an integral role in ATL and social activity.

LONDON — Data company Cloudera has appointed B2B technology PR and content agency Spark Communications to manage its UK PR programme and EMEA hub. A key objective of the programme will be to drive media relations and thought leadership activity, as well as developing creative campaigns and content to support Cloudera’s other partner agencies in the region, and case studies to support Cloudera’s customer advocacy programme in EMEA.

LONDON — Pitch Marketing Group, founded by Henry Chappell in 2002 with the backing of Freud Communications, has transitioned ownership of the business to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), enabling its 40+ employees to have greater involvement in the future success of the business, and to ensure the long-term growth of the agency. The agency was one of the UK’s first sports specialist comms agencies, working on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chappell bought out Freud’s minority shareholding in 2012, and has since diversified the agency’s offering into the consumer sector, with clients including Asics, BT, Beats, Red Bull, Sports Direct, Formula 1 and the Premier League. Chappell will continue as CEO, working with MD Chris Allen.

MANCHESTER — Belgian wall decoration specialist Grandeco has appointed Smoking Gun to manage UK media relations. The agency’s brief is focused on the launch of Grandeco’s new Pure & Protect wallpaper technology, which uses a self-sanitising coating to eliminate harmful particles such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. Smoking Gun will launch the new range to trade and consumer audiences, using technology and interior design stories. Grandeco joins a lifestyle client portfolio including Interflora, Clogau and Dare 2b.

LONDON — The Royal Society of Literature, the charity for writers and readers, has appointed Siren Communications to amplify its work through digital marketing. The B Corp agency’s brief is to deliver refreshed messaging and comms planning around the charity’s calendar of events and campaigns, as well as planning and implementing a series of digital engagement campaigns to reach new audiences. The account will be led by Stacey Stockwell, Siren’s director for purpose and sustainability, and Jack Taylor, client director for digital marketing.

LONDON — Lodging and hospitality public relations specialist Abode Worldwide has been appointed by the UK Short Term Accommodation Association as its retained public relations agency, with a brief to handle strategic communications and media relations. The STAA was founded in 2017 to support the burgeoning short-term rental sector and work towards a stable and supportive regulatory environment. Originally launched around the same time Abode Worldwide has worked with some of the largest operators and technology firms in the sector, including Altido, Breezeway, Hostaway, Xplorie, 3Sixty, Key Data and PointCentral.

LONDON — Simon Jennings, who founded the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, has launched a strategic communications firm specialising in public affairs and business advisory. NorthPoint Strategy will focus on heavily regulated, dynamic, and disruptive sectors, from emerging technologies to energy. Jennings becomes MD of the agency, while James North and Will Riley-Smith, former senior political aides, become directors. NorthPoint Strategy is chaired by James Wharton, Lord Wharton of Yarm, a former government minister who ran Boris Johnson’s campaign to become prime minister in 2019, and the advisory board includes Peter Welch, founding partner of investment bank Singer Capital Markets; Claire Cummings, founder of City law firm, Cummings Pepperdine; and Alex Royle, who heads up compliance and regulatory affairs for digital asset firm Galaxy Digital.

LONDON — PR and digital agency The PHA Group has been appointed by beauty, skincare and wellbeing website Naturisimo for a paid social and pay-per-click brief. The brief is to support growth of the UK business, including promoting the Naturally Conscious label system, which verifies product manufacturer’s claims, and Provenance, which uses blockchain technology to verify sustainability claims.

CARDIFF — Inclusive communications agency Folk has been appointed by vehicle subscription business Wagonex to lead consumer PR, including newsjacking. Folk will also develop a creative brand platform for Wagonex informed by the agency’s Real Folk Panel, a community of inclusion and accessibility consultants. The brief also includes paid social strategy communicating how car subscription works.

LONDON — Technology agency Ballou PR has been appointed to handle UK communications for career mobility platform StudentFinance, designed to support upskilling for in-demand market sectors such as technology, AI, and climate tech. Ballou PR will drive awareness of StudentFinance’s offering among business and student audiences, including announcing its recent €39 million Series A funding, which launched its operations in the UK and Germany. The agency has also been appointed by MDRxTech, a consultancy focused on emerging technologies and law that is part of law firm Mishcon de Reya Group.

MANCHESTER — Tangerine has launched a creative reactive service, Mint, with a focus on helping brands create attention-grabbing content that inserts them into the latest conversations and trends. The agency has worked on reactive social media content for brands including Specsavers, Dunelm and Pizza Hut.

DUBAI — Weber Shandwick MENAT won large consultancy of the year at the seventh PRCA MENA awards, along with seven other awards, with Mubadala named as in-house team of the year. Other winners across the agency and campaign categories included Gambit Communications, Brazen, Atteline – whose founder and MD Sophie Simpson was named as PR leader of the year – APCO Worldwide, Asda’a BCW, Cicero & Bernay, Edelman, Four Communications, Performance Communications, Matrix Public Relations and AstraZeneca.